During his long reign as Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger signed some genuinely world-class footballers.
The likes of Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Robert Pirès were all sensational stars who more than earned their wages, but for all the stars he signed, the Frenchman also bought his fair share of flops.
The likes of Andre Santos, Francis Jeffers and Nicklas Bendtner, who certainly didn’t deserve their sizable wages, and then there were those in between, the players who weren’t terrible but also didn’t make good on their transfers, players like the one Wenger signed in the summer of 2017.
Arsenal's 2017 summer transfer window
Before we get to the player in question, let’s look at one of the other signings Wenger made that summer: Sead Kolasinac.
The Bosnian international had just come off an incredible campaign with German giants FC Schalke, in which he scored three goals and provided nine assists in 36 brilliant appearances.
With form like this, you might have expected the Gunners to pay a pretty penny for the exciting defender, but due to his contract expiring, they were able to snap him up for free.
Unfortunately, this also meant they were willing to hand him a hefty £100k-per-week wage, and after a promising start, it was abundantly clear the Karlsruhe-born star was not cut out for the Premier League.
He would make 118 appearances across his five years with the club, and in the summer of 2022, his contract was terminated by mutual consent. It would be hard to describe Kolasinac’s time in N5 as anything other than a massive failure, but he still cost the club considerably less money than one of his former teammates who signed in the same summer.
Wenger's costly addition
The signing in question is former French international Alexandre Lacazette, who was actually the only other signing made that summer and cost the club a then-record fee of £46.5m.
Now, the first thing to say is that the former Lyon star did have some impressive games for the Gunners, and throughout his time in North London, was someone well-liked by the fans for his obvious effort, but considering how much he cost and the fact he was handed a whopping £182k-per-week salary, it would be fair to say he did not live up to expectations.
In all, he scored just 71 goals for the club in 206 appearances while providing 33 assists to boot, and while he had some brilliant seasons in which he racked up 25 plus goal involvements, he had some others where he didn’t even reach 15.
It might sound harsh, but he was even described as “irrelevant” by journalist Charles Watts for a notable poor showing against Brighton & Hove Albion in April 2022, and former professional Stan Collymore also slammed him for “a lack of working for his team” in a 2020 defeat to Aston Villa.
With comments like these and a middling return in front of goal, it wasn’t that surprising that upon his free transfer back to Lyon in the summer of 2022, there weren’t too many fans upset at the thought of him leaving, at least not for footballing reasons.
Transfer Fee
£46.5m
Total Wages
£47.3m
Total Cost
£93.8m
Appearances
206
Cost per Appearance
455k
Goals
71
Cost per Goal
£1.3m
Assists
33
Cost per Assist
£2.8m
Goal Involvements
104
Cost per Goal Involvement
£902k
Overall, the 33-year-old spent five years at the Emirates, meaning he earned a staggering £47.3m in wages, which, combined with his fee, takes his total cost up to £93.8m, which equates to £455k-per-appearance, £1.3m-per-goal, £2.8m-per-assist and £902k-per-goal involvement.
Ultimately, it might be harsh to call Lacazette a flop for his efforts on the pitch, but given the extreme costs to Arsenal off the pitch, his transfer cannot be considered a success either.
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